March 09, 2018

I hate and I love. Why do I do it, perchance you might ask? I don't know, but I feel it happening to me and I'm burning up.

"Analysis of the structure

"Forget, for a moment, about translating it. The structure of the poem is almost as important as the words themselves. Noting how and where certain words are used lets you see what the poet was emphasizing. In a language where poetry doesn't rhyme and where word order is more flexible than English, these are some of the elements that separate mundane writing from the inspirational."

Pompeii was a lively resort flourishing in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius at the height of the Roman Empire. When Vesuvius erupted in an explosion of flame and ash, the entire town would be destroyed. Some of its citizens died in the chaos, some escaped the mountain's wrath . . . and these are their stories: A boy loses his innocence in Pompeii's flourishing streets. An heiress dreads her wedding day, not knowing it will be swallowed by fire. An ex-legionary stakes his entire future on a gladiator bout destined never to be finished. A crippled senator welcomes death, until a tomboy on horseback comes to his rescue. A young mother faces an impossible choice for her unborn child as the ash falls. A priestess and a whore seek redemption and resurrection as the town is buried.

Six authors bring to life overlapping stories of patricians and slaves, warriors and politicians, villains and heroes who cross each others' path during Pompeii's fiery end. But who will escape, and who will be buried for eternity?

May 01, 2015

“The reader is asked to bear in mind, [that] the story is told, not from the modern point of view, but as from the broken heart and with the lips of an Egyptian patriot of royal blood; no mere beast-worshipper, but a priest instructed in the inmost mysteries, who believed firmly in the personal existence of the gods of Khem, in the possibility of communion with them, and in the certainty of immortal life with its rewards and punishments; to whom also the bewildering and often gross symbolism of the Osirian Faith was nothing but a veil woven to obscure secrets of the Sanctuary. Whatever proportion of truth there may have been in their spiritual claims and imaginings, if indeed there was any, such men as the Prince Harmachis have been told of in the annals of every great religion, and, as is shown by the testimony of monumental and sacred inscriptions, they were not unknown among the worshippers of the Egyptian Gods, and more especially of Isis.”

...

“To such students as seek a story only, and are not interested in the faith, ceremonies, or customs of the Mother of Religion and Civilisation, ancient Egypt, it is, however, respectfully suggested that they should exercise the art of skipping, and open this tale at its Second Book.” (emphasis mine)

Excerpts From: H. Rider Haggard. “Cleopatra.” iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.Note: no longer under copyright

September 06, 2010

Even if you prefer the Dryden translation of the Aeneid, I do recommend reading the introduction to the Fagles translation by the late Bernard Knox, especially "Narrative" and "History." If your library has the book, check it it out!

Title: The Serpent and the Flame: The Imagery of the Second Book of the AeneidAuthor(s): Bernard M. W. KnoxSource: The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 71, No. 4 (1950), pp. 379-400Publisher(s): The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/292386

Title: The Aeneid as a TrilogyAuthor(s): George E. DuckworthSource: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 88, (1957), pp. 1-10Publisher(s): The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/283887

October 19, 2009

Calling on the experts: I've several times come across hendecasyllabos in Pliny's letters, and Betty Radice translated this as hendecasyllable. A dictionary search gives me hendecasyllabic verse (with a reference to Catullus). However, Wikipedia – as usual handle with care – insists on two different types of verse: hendecasyllable verse (Italian poetry) vs. hendecasyllabics (as used by Catullus – and Martial, it seems). Is there a difference?

The essays are excellent and do invite deeper study of the poet. Here is a Bryn Mawr Review:

Reviewed by Niall Rudd, University of LiverpoolWord count: 2475 words

This is a wide-ranging and successful collection, aimed at the
scholarly non-specialist. The contents are as follows: Introduction
(Harrison), Horace: Life and Chronology (Nisbet), Horatian
self-representations (Harrison), Horace and archaic Greek poetry
(Hutchinson), Horace and Hellenistic poetry (Thomas), Horace and Roman
literary history (Tarrant), Horace and Augustus (Lowrie), The Epodes:
Horace's Archilochus? (Watson), The Satires (Muecke), The Epistles
(Ferri), The Ars Poetica (Laird), Carmina: Odes and Carmen Saeculare
(Barchiesi), Philosophy and ethics (Moles), Gods and religion
(Griffin), Friendship, patronage and Horatian sociopoetics (White),
Wine and symposium (Davis), Erotics and gender (Oliensis), Town and
country (Harrison), Poetics and literary criticism (Rutherford), Style
and poetic texture (Harrison), Ancient receptions of Horace (Tarrant),
The reception of Horace in the Middle Ages (Friis-Jensen), in the
Renaissance (McGann), in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(Money), and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Harrison).

This arrangement provides full coverage with a certain amount of
overlap. I offer comment on two general themes and then make some
passing observations, in all of which there will be some friendly
dissent; but a large measure of agreement may be taken for granted.

July 05, 2009

Earlier on, I bemoaned the fact that there are so few Horace biographies around. Well, N.S. Gill found one:

The next Roman history book chat will discuss Horace. On Irene Hahn's blog,
she mentions there is a shortage of biographical information on Horace.
The Internet Archive provides a wealth of out-of-copyright material,
including an old-fashioned biography of Horace: Horace
by Wm. Tuckwell (1829-1919). London: G. Bell & sons. 1905. There are
others to search for, but this first one I looked at seems to have the
info.